Pre-eclampsia wondered what the chances are of it happening again

[SuzanB]

I had a perfect pregnancy with my son and went 2 weeks overdue. I then went on to have a daughter in April, she was 4 weeks early as i had pre-eclampsia and only weighed 3lb 10oz. I have never felt so ill in my life and am now so scared to have another as I was told it is very likely to happen again. I was wondering how many people went on to have another and what there experiences were. Thank you.

I was told it was very unlikely to happen again. So it seems like we've had conflicting information there! For the next pregnancy I will be taking a daily dose of aspirin to try and lower my blood pressure - but I'm going to be a lot more on-the-ball with respect to keeping an eye on it. It hasn't put me off however... :)

With ds1 I had high blood pressure and lots of swelling but never an official diagnosis of pre-eclampsia as my urine samples always came back fine. After some drama with his delivery I used a high-risk OB with ds2. That time around they did a blood test when the same symptoms appeared and did diagnose pre-eclampsia even though urine tests were still coming back normal. Ds2 wound up coming a few weeks early but everything was really fine otherwise. I did have to do a magnesium drip afterwards which was rather vile but the dr. said it would reduce my risk of seizures afterwards.

Hi, I had pre-eclampsia with ds1, I was admitted into hospital at 31 wks and had an EMCS at 34 wks. He was 3lb6. 15 months later I had ds2, I had no problems at all until I got to 39 wks when my blood pressure shot up. I was admitted into hospital again, but this time the bp meds kept my bp under control. Baby was growing fine, bloods all good, no other symptoms so just had Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. After a week I went home and had my planned VBAC at home He was 6lb13. I'm now on pg3, due in Jan and even though things went much better last time I still have to have 4 weekly scans, consultant appointments, blood pressure checks etc as well as usual MW apps. I think you have a 1 in 8 chance of it occuring again, but it's usually less severe and has a later onset if it does happen.

My SIL had it with her first, put really pushed herself during the pregnancy working really hard upto 2 weeks before her due date.

With her second she took it alot easier. Worked part time, finished alot earlier, ate healthily, did some exercise. Just generally relaxed alot more and it didn't return.

She was told that it can go either way, just because you've had it once, doesn't mean you'll get it again.

I had pre eclampsia from 32 weeks with DS but no protein until 38 weeks when I was induced. I was in hospital for the whole of that time. DD was born spontaneously at 37 weeks with no pre eclampsia although the day before she was born my blood pressure had started to rise.

It's unusual to get pre eclampsia in second or later pregnancies unless the father is different

It isn't very likely to happen, nor is it very unlikely to happen. It could & does. There is nothing to say that you having had it once heightens your risk of re-occurrence, but it certainly doesn't lessen it either.

I know people who have had it for all pregnancies & there are some mums on here who can write testament to that, but also, like myself, some who do not suffer again.

One mum I know had it during her 4 pregnancy, (same father for all) and became eclamptic.

I had it with dd1, escaped it with dd2. Not going to chance it again.

Pre Eclampsia has many symptoms. Protein & high BP being 2, but you can have one & not the other, so it isn't an exact science.

Neither is it likely to be less severe subsequent times.

Really, it can & does reoccur. It won't necessarily be as severe or more severe than the first case.

There are no hard & fast rules. There is no way of telling. It is better to just be prepared. It could happen. It could be worse. It could be less severe.

We just don't know, because we just don't know why it happens & how to prevent it.

It's unusual to get pre-eclampsia in second or later pregnancies unless the father is different

Sorry bruffin, but that is incorrect. It is not unusual at all.

www.apec.org.uk is the action on pre-eclampsia website. They say this on their 'risk factors' section: "Previous pre-eclampsia - If you have had pre-eclampsia before then you are almost 8 times as likely to get pre-eclampsia in your next pregnancy. The actual risk of developing the disorder will depend on a number of other factors such as when you initially developed pre-eclampsia in your pregnancy and how acute it was. If you have had previous pre-eclampsia it is important that you let your health care professionals know the details. There is research to show that if you do develop pre-eclampsia again, on average, it is likely to be up to a couple of weeks later in onset and milder than previously experienced."

But if you look at the testimonials there, you will see it isn't at all likely to be less severe. It is very common for it to be as severe, and more severe.

I read some horrendous stories when I was pregnant with dd2. They actually frightened me so much, that I wished that I had read about it before getting pregnant, because I wished that I wasn't!

Thankfully it all turned out OK for me & dd2. But I won't risk it again, as you just do not know what can happen.

Yes, I read similar last time when pg with ds2! It's very scary, I'm currently 24wks pg with no3 and I have days when I'm sure I will get it even more severely this time, and a very premature baby etc etc. Why oh why do we put ourselves through this! I feel like I've taken it a step too far having no3...but hopefully if I do get it this time it will be picked up ASAP. I know a lady who had it with 1st (not very severely), then had perfect 2nd and 3rd pg's, 4th pg though ended with severe pre-eclampsia and 8 wk premature baby. Same father to all.

The NHS website quotes: "If you have had pre-eclampsia in a previous pregnancy, there is approximately a 20% chance that you will develop the condition again in later pregnancies."

I feel as though I'm told something different by each registrar/consultant I see!

Probably because no one knows a lot about it, really!

This is why we won't go for any more. We don't know what will happen & it isn't worth our while, really. I am happy with what I have, feels like another will be chancing it too much!

Good Luck!

Hi all, I had pre-eclampsia with DS, now almost 3, but wasn't diagnosed until the day he was due so was taken into hospital and induced immediately. I believe I had some symptoms from around 6/7 months pregnant. I am now 19 weeks pregnant with second baby and am seeing a consultant at 24 weeks who will assess me and decide where we go from there.
i believe it is taken seriously as nobody knows if it will occur again and how serious it will be.
My sister is also 19 weeks pregnant and has been told she also will see a consultant as both myself and my mum have had pre-eclampsia so her risk is slightly higher.

I had it from about 34 weeks with ds1, but much earlier and more severe with ds2 (from about 24 weeks iirc).

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and knowledge on it. Maybe it is too soon for me to completly say no to anymore children. Like some of you said its the getting it earlier that worrys me. I just thank god she is fine with no problems as it could have turned out so much worse. The funny thing is i had a growth scan a week before she was born that didnt flag up that she was so small. I was told i would have a big baby as my first born was over 9lb. Lol. Thanks everyone x

I had pre-eclampsia with dd, in retrospect the signs were there from about 30 weeks but I became suddenly and severely ill at 32 weeks, dd was 3lb 2oz.

Dp didn't want to risk another pregnancy but I knew that I needed another child, my Gp referred us for a pre-natal appointment with the obs (I would really recommend this) and she quoted me a risk of recurrence of around 25% but that she couldn't predict severity or gestation of onset. I took aspirin every day from my BFP onwards and had lots of monitoring and scans, including uterine artery dopplers at 23 weeks which gives the most sensitive indication of pre-eclampsia being likely. Ds was born by elective section at 39 weeks weighing 6lb 4oz.

Now I'm thinking about number 3....

Best of luck!

My mum was told (as bruffin said) that it was unusual to get pre-exlampsia in subsequent pregnancies unless the father was different.

The father was different, and she did get it again,

But that's not exactly evidence.

If thi is going to influence your decision to have future children you should really speak to a doctor and/or midwife.